Promises
by stopwatch-plz
Summary: There was a reason Ja'far had avoided discussing the subject of birthdays - and that reason was Sinbad.


There was a reason Ja'far had avoided discussing the subject of birthdays - and that reason was Sinbad.

Not that he really knew when his birthday was. It didn't really bother him; it wasn't like it had meant anything as a child, but he'd never forget the look on Sinbad's face when he'd forgotten his vow to keep it quiet and casually mentioned it a few years ago, and he'd been regretting it ever since. The king stated that everyone needed a birthday, because it was the one day of the year on which it was almost illegal not to go out drinking - despite Ja'far's objections that he didn't really like drinking nor did he particularly want to go out. Then Sinbad declared that Ja'far's birthday would now fall on Mahrajan, Sindria's harvest festival every year, and as it was definitely a crime not to go out celebrating that, Ja'far felt well and truly beaten.

So far this year, the day had been predictably chaotic. The festival usually ran all day and night, with children taking the lead during the daytime events, and after the expected attack by the Southern Creatures was swiftly dealt with the adults would pick up the pace, where it was left off to carry it on into the night. There were the usual stalls to run, selling food and drink and just about every kind of item that could be made by one - or more - pair of toy stalls were usually overrun with wide-eyed kids during the day and then, come the evening, the food and drink stands would be heaving with men and women looking to enjoy themselves.

And Ja'far had to keep track of it all.

He didn't mind it, really. It was quite nice to see people enjoying themselves, and he would occasionally allow himself a few minutes to get swept up in the swirling emotions that were common at the festival. He looked up and saw that the sun was in it's final arc towards the horizon, and he let a small smile play across his face. Not only had the day gone well, but he'd also managed to avoid Sinbad, and he closed his eyes with a sigh of relief.

"Slacking on the job, are we?"

_Damn!_

"I'm not you, Your Highness," Ja'far shot back without opening his eyes. "Is it too much to think that you're just a hallucination, a product of my overworked and underpaid mind?"

Sinbad laughed in amusement as he wrapped an arm around Ja'far's small waist and pulled him in to gently bite at an exposed ear, grinning at the struggling and the wide-eyed look of protest it caused.

"Put me down!" he demanded, managing to extricate himself from Sinbad's clutches. Really, it wouldn't hurt for the man to show him some kind of respect in public! Of course, all this gained was an even greater smile on Sinbad's face.

"I hope you haven't forgotten what day it is?"

"Of course not. The festival is going very well, thank you."

Sinbad rolled his eyes. "You can be insufferable at times, you know."

Ja'far scowled as he looked up, and narrowed his eyes. "You obviously haven't spent much time with yourself. Now, I have work to do," he said with an air of finality, and picked up the hem of his robe to walk across a particularly muddy patch

"No you don't," Sinbad countered, and caught the smaller man around the waist again. "I've asked Masrur and the others to look after this evening's schedule. You and I are going out!"

Ja'far spun around on his heels and looked up at Sinbad with a mixture of fear and horror swirling in his gut. Leave them in charge of the festival? "Wa-wait, Sinbad, you can't...!"

"I can - and I have. I am the King, you know - and you have to obey my orders. So you are coming with me. Now." Sinbad smirked as he leant forwards. "And if you don't come willingly, I will pick you up and carry you to the tavern over my shoulder," he said in a quiet voice full of amusement, and maybe something a bit more.

Ja'far scowled at the thought of being carried through the assembled crowd like a newly-married bride on the shoulder of the king. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was a good or a bad feeling, but he also wasn't sure he wanted to find out,

"Is this the way you treat all your Household members?" he grumbled as he pulled free of Sinbad's grip again and readjusted his robes with as much dignity as he could muster after being manhandled.

"Only the ones I sleep with," he gave a comedy wink, and if Ja'far had been holding anything it would have found itself magically drawn to the other man's face.

"Do we have sexual harassment laws in Sindria?" Ja'far muttered, exasperated.

"Yes - you have to harass me once a day and twice on a day off!" Sinbad declared with a grin.

Ja'far couldn't help it. He felt the corners of his mouth begin to tug upwards, and before he knew it, an amused snort escaped his lips. "Damn you," he said, resigned to the fact that he would never win this argument. "Come on, take me wherever you want - I am forever under your control." He threw his hands up in mock defeat.

"Oh, don't say that!" Sinbad grinned as he reached out to grab Ja'far's arm.

...

"And then she said, I thought it was a potato!" Sinbad threw out the punchline to his tale and roared with laughter. Ja'far snorted in amusement and slumped down in his seat slightly.

"...think I'm getting drunk," Ja'far said with a sigh.

"No, you can't be drunk yet!" Sinbad protested. "It's still way too early. And we still need to play a game!"

Ja'far looked up and scowled. "Don't wanna play a game with you. You're a cheating cheater who cheats," he declared as he downed the rest of his wine. "Oh," he said in a small voice as he noticed the empty cup, and Sinbad took that as his cue to refill it.

"I think we should tell a truth game then! I can't cheat on them."

"I'm sure you can," Ja'far said as he tried to straighten himself out a bit. The tavern was almost empty, save for the owner and an elderly man slumped in the corner, drunk or sleeping or both. They had been here before, and Ja'far had a suspicion that Sinbad gave the tavern owners financial support to keep the place low-key so that he had somewhere to go drinking without much fuss - even with the festival on today he would have expected more people to be around. However, he'd been trying to find evidence of any such payments for months but the books seemed to say that nothing was out of the ordinary, so if Sinbad was passing them money, he was doing it out of his own pocket.

"OK - the rules for this game are simple! We take it in turns to say 'I have never' then list an action. If you've done it, you drink!" Sinbad topped up his own mug.

"Huh?" Ja'far looked up over his mug, confused.

"Look - I have never drunk wine," Sinbad declared then took a sip of his wine and looked across the table expectantly.

"What?" Ja'far asked, as he started to feel a little paranoid.

Sinbad sighed. "If you've done the thing mentioned, you take a sip of your drink." He watched in satisfaction as Ja'far raised an eyebrow but did as he was told. "Right, now your turn!"

Ja'far hesitated and bit his bottom lip nervously.. "Umm... I have never... killed someone?"

Sinbad frowned. "That's a bit dark!"

Ja'far looked away sheepishly. "Sorry, it was the first thing that came to my mind."

"Scary..." Sinbad muttered. then smiled. "Let's leave that one. My turn! I have never kissed a woman." Sinbad was pleased to see they drank at the same time. "You're getting the hang of it!"

Ja'far raised an eyebrow at Sinbad. "I have never... kissed a man," he said quietly, a faint flush creeping up his face as they both drank. "Hey, wait a minute - what is the actual point of this game?"

Sinbad had wondered how long it would take him to work that out. "It's whatever you want it to be. Personally, I'm after information and getting you drunk." he said without a hint of shame.

"Has anyone told you that you're a terrible person, "Ja'far muttered. "Anyway, your turn."

"I have never slept with a woman." Sinbad said with a grin as Ja'far sighed and took a sip along with him.

"I can see where this is going, Sin."

"That's my point. Your turn!"

"I have never been drunk." Ja'far declared, and felt a sense of satisfaction at the way Sinbad's face fell that he'd avoided saying the obvious.

"That's just mean!" Sinbad said with a pout. "Fine then," he said and leant forwards conspiratorially. "I have never given a blowjob," he said in a low voice and then grinned as he took a long sip of his drink, watching the blush creep up Ja'far's pale face as he also took a drink and refused to make eye contact.

This was the kind of thing Ja'far usually tried to avoid, because his normal-brain and his inebriated-brain were so opposite that he usually ended up doing or saying something he later regretted. But, of course, he'd had just enough wine to get into that exact zone, and he was sure Sinbad knew this. "I have never," he started, holding his cup in front of his mouth as if it were a shield protecting him from himself, "slept with two men at once."

They both took a drink, and Sinbad raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm," he said, thoughtfully. That was definitely something he wanted to hear more about, and he felt a heat run through his own body at the reaction it caused. Slipping a shoe off one foot he stretched out under the table and ran his foot up the inside of Ja'far's leg, slowly. He watched with barely disguised glee as Ja'far tried to ignore it and he grinned as he leant over the table. "I have never played footsie with a King under a table in a tavern," he said in a low voice, which had a rather uncharacteristic waver in it, as his foot travelled further until it reached resistance. Sinbad held his breath briefly before he felt Ja'far part his legs slightly to let him carry on.

"Sin, I don't-" Ja'far started, his voice a little unsure, and he swallowed dryly.

"Drink," Sinbad commanded. Ja'far was powerless to refuse, and he took a drink while glaring across the table as much as he could, trying to ignore the foot sliding up his leg. This was only going to end one way, and it wasn't good.

How he let Sinbad get away with getting him into these situations was beyond him.

"Fine. If we're playing dirty - I have never fucked someone so hard they couldn't sit down at their meeting the next day!" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Ja'far instantly regretted it - until he saw the look in Sinbad's eyes as he they widened in surprise,

"Right," Sinbad declared as he finished his wine in one long gulp. "That's enough." Ja'far felt the breath in his throat catch as he heard the tone in Sinbad's voice and let out a squeal of surprise as he was hauled to his feet and told,

"We're going back now."

...

"Do you think he's ok?"

Sharrkan looked across the table to Yamraiha and considered her question. "I don't know. Damn," he sighed as he slumped in his chair. "I was so looking forward to proving that Sindria wouldn't fall apart in his absence."

Yamraiha was about to reply when the door opened. "Ja'far, I-" She stopped mid-sentence. "Umm?"

Seven sets of eyes fixed on Sinbad as he stood in the doorway, and he tried to keep a straight face. "I shall be attending the meeting in Ja'far's absence."

"Absence?" Sharrkan said, an eyebrow raised in query. "Is he ill?"

"Ja'far is, umm, currently indisposed," Sinbad replied, hiding the grin that was threatening to overcome his face by turning to pull out the nearest chair to sit down on."Please, continue!" He waved a hand non-committedly and then tried to focus on what was actually being discussed.

...

By the time the sun had set on Sindria the next day, Ja'far was up to 47 new and interesting ways that he could commit regicide.

...


End file.
